Ben Simmons rips NCAA in new doc

[Huskies4ever]

I would like to get back to having the days where phenoms came right out of high school. It'll make for better basketball and a richer talent pool coming out of college

I would like to go back to when everyone in college stayed 3 or 4 years. The game of basketball (college and NBA) was better for it.

 

[BUConn10]

Well, do you think professional athletes should be paid less, too? That's not rhetorical. I'm curious.

This is a conversation that, admittedly, is more comprehensive in scope than my personal opinion can pay justice to, but it doesn't seem at all inconsistent to sympathize with the players who are clearly getting screwed while also acknowledging the structural barriers that prohibit such a thing. Perhaps Simmons does help pay for the women's lacrosse team, but it isn't his job to worry about the women's lacrosse team.

At the end of the day pro athletes are paid their market value more or less, but that market value is still heavily dependent on how much society reveres or values each sports athletes. I just think we as a nation put athletes on too high of a pedestal while behaving almost hostile towards academics and education, which is becomes totally apparent in our college system. Alabama boosters spend tens of millions a year on donations to the football program, and by rule those donations can't be used on anything but football by the university. Meanwhile the university as an academic institution is pretty mediocre, yet no one is really bothered to donate a fraction of what they do to the football team.

Thats really just an example off the top of my head but my point is guys like Simmons wouldn't act this this entitled if they didn't think so ridiculously highly of what they do, because we as a people enable it. At the end of the day its just a game, and I know how ironic that sounds on a sports forum.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

Simmons simply said in print the same things most blue-chip players and fans have been saying since 1 and done beca)me the policy.
It is a sham, and no real institution of higher learning should be willing to participate. You sign a kid who everyone knows by his junior year in high school will never have more than two cups of coffee at your school.....so that you can promote the myth of caring for their eucation.
While it is an NBA policy, the NCAA is a more than willing partner. UntIL a certain Hungry Husky embarrassed them in front of the world, they wouldn't allow schools to buy a kid a bagel sandwich..while simultaneously signing billion dollar tv deals on the backs of those same kids.
But I guess he should simply display more false humility and speak only in stale cliches to make everyone happy.

 

[Burnsbros23]

I mean...he's right. All of the rationalization ("he's getting a free education," "he didn't have to go to college," "he was treated like a king") is just noise.

The fact that he attended LSU and not Kentucky or Kansas should drive the point home. Their fan base, and the fan bases of SEC schools in general, could be described gently as apathetic. He singlehandedly put people in the seats, generated a buzz within the program and conference, and drove TV ratings way up. If there were ever a guy with a legitimate gripe, it's him. He made people a lot of money last season and didn't see a dime in return.

Him being from Australia gave him an easy out or way around. He knew what it was going into it.

System much more rigged for American players.

 

[Fishy]

Pay college athletes.

But staple a tuition bill to their first check.

The average graduate in 2016 left school owing nearly $40,000 in student debt. Athetes are playing for nothing? Please - Jay Bilas and Ben Simmons can both blow it out of their asses.

If a kid doesn't want to take advantage of the absolutely free education being provided to him or if he's too dim to realize that he didn't have to go to college in the first place, that's on him.

 

[Ukonnfan]

I feel so bad for him....not.... Let him get up at four AM , go work for a mason tossing 5 gal buckets of morter up 15 feet all day, six days a week..

 

[Samoo]

Hell, make him simply get up at 7:30 am to make an 8:15 class, then stay up all hours to finish an actual assignment. My guess is he didn't have a single day like that while at LSU.

Poor wittle Benny.

 

[Waquoit]

I'm not sure he realizes it's the NBA enforcing the one year in college.

Doesn't sound like a guy that did much homework.

 

[champs99and04]

Pay college athletes.

But staple a tuition bill to their first check.

The average graduate in 2016 left school owing nearly $40,000 in student debt. Athetes are playing for nothing? Please - Jay Bilas and Ben Simmons can both blow it out of their asses.

If a kid doesn't want to take advantage of the absolutely free education being provided to him or if he's too dim to realize that he didn't have to go to college in the first place, that's on him.

Yeah, because that seems totally relevant. How much money are they making the University again? The Average Joe pays a lot of money in debt because life is supposed to be harder when you're average, trust me I know.

The fact that people still cling to the idea of a "free education" being a sufficient payment - when we have seen countless evidence to suggest that players are steered towards certain majors - is problematic in it of itself, and the value of such an education is depressed by the fact that there's this string called an unpaid, full-time job attached to it. "Hey, thanks so much for watching my three kids this weekend, as a gift in return, here are two free tickets to see The Killers on Saturday night."

People get too caught up in their own feelings and experiences to objectively discuss this topic. I am not even especially certain that college athletes should be paid but I know a bogus argument when I see one.

 

[upstater]

Yeah, because that seems totally relevant. How much money are they making the University again? The Average Joe pays a lot of money in debt because life is supposed to be harder when you're average, trust me I know.

The fact that people still cling to the idea of a "free education" being a sufficient payment - when we have seen countless evidence to suggest that players are steered towards certain majors - is problematic in it of itself, and the value of such an education is depressed by the fact that there's this string called an unpaid, full-time job attached to it. "Hey, thanks so much for watching my three kids this weekend, as a gift in return, here are two free tickets to see The Killers on Saturday night."

People get too caught up in their own feelings and experiences to objectively discuss this topic. I am not even especially certain that college athletes should be paid but I know a bogus argument when I see one.

The main point is that there are things more important in the world than sports. LSU, for instance, is a university system in total and complete shambles--they are thinking of shutting down. Why? Lack of money. At the vast majority of universities, there are subsidies for sports. There are maybe 8 or 9 where that isn't true.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

Most D-I athletes get up well before 7:15 am to lift and run. Then they have to go to classes that fit into a specific window, usually for a select group of majors. Then they practice, all to prepare for games where fat old people live or die through their performances. Of course, playing is an option. People working jobs they hate is an option. Ben Simmons made a lot of money for a lot of people in his one year. He didn't see a dime and didn't have access to the same academic opportunities as his peers. Again, that was his choice. As it is our choice to watch and financially support a system that creates the forced false dynamic known as the Student-Athlete. If they really cared, they wouldn't have a system that stops checking academic progress half way trough the year. They would check grades right up to the day March Madness begins. Of course, the schools would either stop posting grades until April or simply pull a UNC. The NCAA is a fraud, and we are all co-conspirators. But Ben Simmons is a jerk for pointing out the obvious. #Merica

And to the kids who gradate with loads of debt. I am not crying for them either. They chose to attend expensive schools, often private or out-of-state. They chose to forgo taking more affordable community college courses that would have been happily accepted by the school from which they are graduating. They often choose to take light academic loads that lengthen their time in school, when they could have decided to bear down and take heavier semester loads.......or heaven forbid, work during college.

Ben Simmons wasn't any more valuable on draft day of 2016 than he would have been on draft day 2015.

 

[Briuconn]

He could have gone to the NBA D League or played in Europe/China for a year, He would not have been the first to do so either. He could have gotten to play and get paid, but he chose to go to LSU. He wanted the exposure of college ball, but is complain now about the situation that it brings such as only a full ride scholarship and having to attempt to be a student.

Ben needs to stop complaining, he had options. A retrospect bitching fest about his choice makes him less of an adult for accepting the outcome of the choice he made.

 

[Burnsbros23]

He could have gone to the NBA D League or played in Europe/China for a year, He would not have been the first to do so either. He could have gotten to play and get paid, but he chose to go to LSU. He wanted the exposure of college ball, but is complain now about the situation that it brings such as only a full ride scholarship and having to attempt to be a student.

Ben needs to stop complaining, he had options. A retrospect bitching fest about his choice makes him less of an adult for accepting the outcome of the choice he made.

He could of gone pro in Australia at 16 and gone to the NBA from there.

He knew we had a broken system. And moved across the world to be apart of that broken system.

 

[HooperScooper]

Mark Emmert responds. I actually agree with him this time!

Mark Emmert: Ben Simmons' anger misdirected

 

[upstater]

He could of gone pro in Australia at 16 and gone to the NBA from there.

He knew we had a broken system. And moved across the world to be apart of that broken system.

But is it a broken system?

I am good friends with the family of an Italian player that just went pro at 18. You should hear the horror stories of kids who go to their academies (I don't know why they have this name) and they don't pan out, and they have no education to fall back on. It's a gamble. Any parent with kids who play sports at a high level is already weighing the pros and cons of all f this, especially if you're in soccer and there is already in the USA and institutional bias against high school and college soccer.

I wonder if a pre-pro system would be better for these kids. I am not convinced.

 

[upstater]

Mark Emmert responds. I actually agree with him this time!

Which should really piss all of us off. Thanks Ben.

 

[polycom]

Ah..this debate again. Colleges shouldn't have sports teams and it would solve all of these issues. Make them all private organizations. We allow schools to exploit some kids for the benefit of many others, that is how the system is setup and there is nothing they can do about it. Unless the system is changed college athletes who deserve to be paid will never be paid.

 

[methodology]

Yeah, because that seems totally relevant. How much money are they making the University again? The Average Joe pays a lot of money in debt because life is supposed to be harder when you're average, trust me I know.

The fact that people still cling to the idea of a "free education" being a sufficient payment - when we have seen countless evidence to suggest that players are steered towards certain majors - is problematic in it of itself, and the value of such an education is depressed by the fact that there's this string called an unpaid, full-time job attached to it. "Hey, thanks so much for watching my three kids this weekend, as a gift in return, here are two free tickets to see The Killers on Saturday night."

People get too caught up in their own feelings and experiences to objectively discuss this topic. I am not even especially certain that college athletes should be paid but I know a bogus argument when I see one.

You should ask a minor league baseball player or hockey player what they prefer. They are pros but get paid peanuts while living an awful experience compared to a college athlete on full scholarship.

They don't get free clothing, nice living quarters, paid meals, traveling by bus instead of planes, etc.

You are looking at this situation that all these athletes should be more well off than some professional athletes in minor league. The ncaa is the minor leagues pay your dues and if your good enough you will be rewarded by the nba

 

[Rocktheworld]

You should ask a minor league baseball player or hockey player what they prefer. They are pros but get paid peanuts while living an awful experience compared to a college athlete on full scholarship.

They don't get free clothing, nice living quarters, paid meals, traveling by bus instead of planes, etc.

You are looking at this situation that all these athletes should be more well off than some professional athletes in minor league. The ncaa is the minor leagues pay your dues and if your good enough you will be rewarded by the nba

Okay but to square that argument, minor leage baseball/hockey players need to be regularly performing on national television, directly contributing to making their employers billions by attracting enough eyes to justify the massive television contracts we are now seeing.

You're looking at it purely from a quality of life standpoint but there is more going on than that. Are you saying the product and income generated, and thus deserved compensation, is the same between high-major D1 talent and minor league baseball/hockey players?

 

[Jerry1714]

Yeah, because that seems totally relevant. How much money are they making the University again? The Average Joe pays a lot of money in debt because life is supposed to be harder when you're average, trust me I know.

The fact that people still cling to the idea of a "free education" being a sufficient payment - when we have seen countless evidence to suggest that players are steered towards certain majors - is problematic in it of itself, and the value of such an education is depressed by the fact that there's this string called an unpaid, full-time job attached to it. "Hey, thanks so much for watching my three kids this weekend, as a gift in return, here are two free tickets to see The Killers on Saturday night."

People get too caught up in their own feelings and experiences to objectively discuss this topic. I am not even especially certain that college athletes should be paid but I know a bogus argument when I see one.

It is much more than a free education, he gets fed, housed, access to world class training facilities, doctors, oh and the massive amount of free publicity he got for himself and his brand. It is not about a free education for Ben, but Ben is the 1%, the other 99% of athletes get all that he got and a free education as they will need it in the real world.

Ben's godfather was on the staff at LSU, he was not blind to the system, he made a choice, a choice that benefited him more than his other options (playing pro ball in Australia).

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

and a free education as they will need it in the real world.

It's quaint that people think that your average D1 revenue sport athlete - who will likely not play professionally - receives any sort of education that will prepare him for the real world.

 

[Burnsbros23]

But is it a broken system?

I am good friends with the family of an Italian player that just went pro at 18. You should hear the horror stories of kids who go to their academies (I don't know why they have this name) and they don't pan out, and they have no education to fall back on. It's a gamble. Any parent with kids who play sports at a high level is already weighing the pros and cons of all f this, especially if you're in soccer and there is already in the USA and institutional bias against high school and college soccer.

I wonder if a pre-pro system would be better for these kids. I am not convinced.

I do actually agree with you. I don't think their is any perfect system. Every idea I hear is flawed. And I certainly don't have a great one.

Simmons certainly would claim or system is broken but he knew that going in.

 

[Jerry1714]

It's quaint that people think that your average D1 revenue sport athlete - who will likely not play professionally - receives any sort of education that will prepare him for the real world.

Does your company hire people without a college degree?

 

[Dogdeacon]

I mean...he's right. All of the rationalization ("he's getting a free education," "he didn't have to go to college," "he was treated like a king") is just noise.

The fact that he attended LSU and not Kentucky or Kansas should drive the point home. Their fan base, and the fan bases of SEC schools in general, could be described gently as apathetic. He singlehandedly put people in the seats, generated a buzz within the program and conference, and drove TV ratings way up. If there were ever a guy with a legitimate gripe, it's him. He made people a lot of money last season and didn't see a dime in return.

Huh, what was LSU's attendance pre and during that one year? Even if they sold 5000 more $20 seats x say 15 games that's a gross of 1.5M which he easily also gained in personal brand value via NCAA exposure and marketing. And there are many other options to college ball especially for foreign players. He chose college for the surest brand building path to #1 pick so how dare he gripe about it after the fact.

 

[upstater]

Okay but to square that argument, minor leage baseball/hockey players need to be regularly performing on national television, directly contributing to making their employers billions by attracting enough eyes to justify the massive television contracts we are now seeing.

You're looking at it purely from a quality of life standpoint but there is more going on than that. Are you saying the product and income generated, and thus deserved compensation, is the same between high-major D1 talent and minor league baseball/hockey players?

Disagree with this. The reason people watch is because of the in-built fanbases associated with the universities. NBDL teams could blow away college teams. But the fanbases aren't there. The eyes are on the laundry, not the players. If the eyes were assessing quality of play, there'd be many more NBDL fans.